Medical homelessness?

darthtang aw

Active Member
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/04/18/consumerwatch-some-covered-california-patients-say-they-cant-see-a-doctor/
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Seems legit to me.

Having insurance but no doctor to go to, because of the insurance policy - that seems like something that needs a call for attention.


So, what is an alternative fix to all this healthcare and education stuff?
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
The same problem people on Medicare and Medicaid experience. Welcome to government health care. I imagine that the cheaper health plans are going to have these kinds of issues. Keep in mind that all of these plans offered under ACA are private ins. plans.
 

aggiealum

Member
Do a poll these medical facilities and doctors to see what their political party affiliation is. My guess you have the Conservative/Tea Party doctors that didn't want to have anything to do with ACA because they knew they would lose revenue due to having to abide by agreed-upon charges built into these low-cost policies. Instead of getting $75 for a 30-minute visit with a patient, they only get $25 - $30. Instead of charging $350 for blood and urine labs, they can only charge $125. The same doctors have done the same with Medicare patients because the government shut down that cash cow where they could bill the government outrageous charges for simplistic services and get away with it. Now that they can't get 5 times the normal rate from the government dole, they don't want to play in the game any longer.
 

aggiealum

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darthtang AW http:///t/397570/medical-homelessness#post_3543844
You didnt read the story i am guessing.
Actually I did. This phrase stood out:

"Nguyen said the newly insured patients checked the physicians’ lists they were provided and were told they weren’t accepting new patients or they did not participate in the plan."

Which alludes to my theory that these physicians weren't "accepting patients" or "participating in the plan" because of their political beliefs and their objections to ACA as a whole.
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
Lol, where do you think all of these doctors to handle every patient in the nation are going to come from? We just pull them out of thin air? There was already a shortage of doctors before the aca and this just made it worse.
Doctors or hospitals have private contracts with insurance companies. Its not the doctors fault that the only "affordable plans" offered through the ACA are going to be picked up by the bottom feeders. Those who need the patients. Which is practically no one in that field.
Yes, if you want a good plan and a good doctor then it's going to still cost you one way or another. Then you can wait, wait and wait some before before they have time to get you in and see you.
So much for affordable, preventative health care. But wait...democrats have an ace up their sleeve. Once the entire medical industry is so jacked up the people will practically be begging government to come in a rescue health care yet again. Thats when they plan to implement the single payer system that they wante all along.
Again, where will all of these doctors and extra medical staff come from to handle the demand? Most likely, places like India, Africa and Mexico. Don't believe me? Try checking into these other countries that have already implemented such systems and see where they found theirs.
 

darthtang aw

Active Member
Actually I did.  This phrase stood out:
"Nguyen said the newly insured patients checked the physicians’ lists they were provided and were told they weren’t accepting new


patients or they did not participate in the plan."
Which alludes to my theory that these physicians weren't "accepting patients" or "participating in the plan" because of their political beliefs and their objections to ACA as a whole.
So the hospital your wife works at picks insurance providers they accept for political reasons? 1/3 of California's doctors are set to retire...is that political? keep in mind this is happenning in VERY liberal California.
 

aggiealum

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darthtang AW http:///t/397570/medical-homelessness#post_3543886
So the hospital your wife works at picks insurance providers they accept for political reasons? 1/3 of California's doctors are set to retire...is that political? keep in mind this is happenning in VERY liberal California.
You should talk to some of my wife's co-workers. We were out to dinner with a couple of them last week, and it sounded like a Tea Bagger convention. They deride ACA simply because it's government driven. Although they deal directly with essentially the same insurance providers (BCBS, Aetna, etc.), and the paperwork is the same as if they were dealing with a patient who had coverage through their employer, they still squawk how those "Marxist Liberals in Washington" are forcing them to decide what patients they can see. Trust me, I hear all the time about the political bureaucracy that goes on where my wife works. I listen to the same complaints from her about the crap she has to go through to insure every T is crossed, and I dotted in the massive paperwork she has to fill out for one patient. She gets constant calls from the department that handles the insurance paperwork, and has to spend hours detailing every little item she uses, or service she provides to a patient to make sure the hospital gets every dime that's due to them. She doesn't dictate as much as to which patients she see's based on what insurance plan they have because ultimately if the hospital doesn't accept their insurance, she can't care for them since she doesn't have privileges in another hospital that does take their insurance. She's dedicated her career to care for the patient, not where they have to get the money to obtain her services. I couldn't count the number of pro bono surgeries she's performed in her lifetime. So in your mind, she must be the exception to the rule.
 

aggiealum

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///t/397570/medical-homelessness#post_3543876
Lol, where do you think all of these doctors to handle every patient in the nation are going to come from? We just pull them out of thin air? There was already a shortage of doctors before the aca and this just made it worse.
Doctors or hospitals have private contracts with insurance companies. Its not the doctors fault that the only "affordable plans" offered through the ACA are going to be picked up by the bottom feeders. Those who need the patients. Which is practically no one in that field.
Yes, if you want a good plan and a good doctor then it's going to still cost you one way or another. Then you can wait, wait and wait some before before they have time to get you in and see you.
So much for affordable, preventative health care. But wait...democrats have an ace up their sleeve. Once the entire medical industry is so jacked up the people will practically be begging government to come in a rescue health care yet again. Thats when they plan to implement the single payer system that they wante all along.
Again, where will all of these doctors and extra medical staff come from to handle the demand? Most likely, places like India, Africa and Mexico. Don't believe me? Try checking into these other countries that have already implemented such systems and see where they found theirs.
Blame enormous tuition costs for the lack of motivation for young people getting into the medical field. After it's all said in done, from a BA, to pre-Med, to Medical School, to Residency, the average cost is probably close to $300K. If they don't get into a specialization and stick to General Medicine, they'll only pull in around $100K - $150K a year, if that. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the cut in fees doctors can charge a patient have been going on WAY before Obamacare came around. Insurance companies have negotiated prices down to nothing for decades. Doctors raise there base fees like Office Visits 30%, the insurance company simply comes back and says they'll only pay a third of the overall charge, so they end up getting the same as they did before. The Democrats aren't the one's who "jacked up medical costs" my friend. It's your Conservative brethren who pander to the medical industry lobbyists and have never done ANYTHING to try and curb or reduce medical costs for the average American citizen. Bush was in office for 8 years, and he did squat to make insurance premiums affordable for low and middle class families. Those families either went without medical treatments, or simply got it for free going to the county hospitals and clinics, which your taxes paid for. With ACA, they now have to be responsible for SOMETHING, even if it's $50/month. Kids still going to college can stay on their parents insurance until they are 26 so they don't have to worry about dropping out of school to pay for some medical treatment. Doctors can no longer deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. Low and middle income families can now afford to purchase catastrophic insurance in case they do succumb to a terminal illness or have some major accident or injury. Prior to ACA, they might as well crawl up and die, because they could never afford to pay back the humongous medical bills they'd receive for their care. Oh wait, the Republicans had a plan that would offer similar benefits. Yet, in all those years they had the opportunity to implement those ideas, they never did it. They were satisfied with the status quo, and cared only about themselves.
 

darthtang aw

Active Member
You should talk to some of my wife's co-workers.  We were out to dinner with a couple of them last week, and it sounded like a Tea Bagger convention.  They deride ACA simply because it's government driven.  Although they deal directly with essentially the same insurance providers (BCBS, Aetna, etc.), and the paperwork is the same as if they were dealing with a patient who had coverage through their employer, they still squawk how those "Marxist Liberals in Washington" are forcing them to decide what patients they can see.  Trust me, I hear all the time about the political bureaucracy that goes on where my wife works.  I listen to the same complaints from her about the crap she has to go through to insure every T is crossed, and I dotted in the massive paperwork she has to fill out for one patient.  She gets constant calls from the department that handles the insurance paperwork, and has to spend hours detailing every little item she uses, or service she provides to a patient to make sure the hospital gets every dime that's due to them.  She doesn't dictate as much as to which patients she see's based on what insurance plan they have because ultimately if the hospital doesn't accept their insurance, she can't care for them since she doesn't have privileges in another hospital that does take their insurance.  She's dedicated her career to care for the patient, not where they have to get the money to obtain her services.  I couldn't count the number of pro bono surgeries she's performed in her lifetime.  So in your mind, she must be the exception to the rule.
In 2008, hospitals received only 91 cents from the government for every dollar spent on a Medicare patient. That same year hospitals received only 89 cents for every dollar spent on Medicaid patients.
A 1 percent decrease in average Medicare price correlated with a .17 percent increase in private payer price, and that a 1 percent decrease in the Medicaid rate was associated with a .04 percent increase. From 1997 to 2001, Medicare and Medicaid cost-shifting accounted for 12.3 percent of increases in private payer prices.
Now we have further cost shifting. I would be out of business if I charged ten percent less than what it costs me to perform my services.
Let me ask you, do you rent your properties out at a reduced rate to low income families? Do you ask market value or are you renting under market value? Housing is expensive. It makes up no less than 25%-50% of most people monthly budget. Should the government step in a dictate what housing should cost? We have a slew of homeless people. They deserve a place to live and feel safe.
 
Top